The lost history of urban renewal

Contrary to common understanding, the US government's policy of “urban renewal” was conceived as an alternative policy to slum clearance. Bitterly opposed to public housing, conservative housing‐industry trade associations sought a way to reform the urban redevelopment formula of clearance and public housing established in the Housing Act of 1949. In the early 1950s, the industry groups seized on citizens' neighborhood fix‐up efforts, particularly the Baltimore Plan, to conduct a national campaign to popularize code enforcement, rehabilitation, and private low‐cost housing development as methods to restore and stabilize city neighborhoods. At conferences organized by House and Home magazine and in the President's Advisory Committee on Government Housing Policies and Programs, the housing industry associations fashioned policies, now named “urban renewal,” which were codified in the Housing Act of 1954. But private industry's venture in urban policymaking failed in implementation. Home builders proved reluctant to participate in the new programs, public housing hung on, and hundreds of thousands of homes fell to the wrecking ball. As urban renewal became synonymous with slum clearance, neighborhoods continued to decline. In the end, ironically, housing rehabilitation reemerged as a populist tool for reviving the inner city.     

The ambiguity of urban renewal in France: Between continuity and rupture

The term urban renewal was introduced in France in the Loi solidarité et renouvellement urbains (Loi SRU) of December 13th, 2000. Until then, terms like renovation, reconstruction, recycling or refurbishment were used to indicate similar phenomena. Is the introduction of a new term only an innovation in vocabulary, or does it imply new orientations, conceptions and practices? It appears that ever since its introduction in 2000, the notion of urban renewal has been subject to variations in its meaning and in its implementation. A double regime of urban renewal exists. On the one hand, there are the operations officially labelled as urban renewal, which benefit from central state subsidies. These operations aim at a social urban development, and almost exclusively concern the so-called quartiers sensibles, large high-rise housing estates in the banlieus. On the other hand, there are more market-driven, locally initiated and realised operations of regeneration of derelict and run-down areas of the city.     

运用对策论分析和思考城市更新的若干问题

对策论是一种重要的社会科学研究方法,在经济、社会、环境等领域有广泛的应用。该文在介绍对策论基本内容的基础上,运用对策论理论分析城市更新中的一些典型问题,进而从对策论求解的角度提出改善措施,最后通过城市更新实例来说明该措施的可操作性。     

不同目标导向下的城市更新研究

城市更新在城市发展中起着新陈代谢的作用,我国的城市更新正处于市场化转型时期,存在着多方利益主体之间的利益分配矛盾,要在各利益主体间平衡这种矛盾,就必须引入多方参与的机制。本文以GIS技术为基础,以福州市鼓楼区城市更新为例,针对各利益主体的不同目标导向,试图归纳出不同目标下的城市更新模式及更新时序,为研究区域的城市更新提供参考。     

The path to successful urban renewal: Current policy debates in the Netherlands

In Dutch urban renewal, we observe an implementation gap between dreaming and doing. Dutch national government recently proposed to focus urban renewal on more than 50 priority areas in the cities and to reduce urban renewal subsidies. It is not very likely that this policy will accelerate urban renewal. This contribution suggests a different approach: the formulation of an urban district vision shared by the sustainable stakeholders in those districts. If they can come to an agreement, they deserve housing association finance and public urban renewal support. By targeting the plans primarily on the social climbers in the urban districts involved, the city can keep their buying power within the city. Combining physical, social, economic and safety agendas and adopting a multi-functional orientation would seem to be a successful strategy.     

From stigma to demolition: Australian debates about housing and social exclusion

Although the concept of social exclusion is well established in the UK and wider Europe, as an alternative to the use of poverty and inequality, it only recently entered Australian housing and urban policy debates. This paper explores the dominant debates that emerged about housing and inequality in two major reports, which investigated future options for East Fairfield (Villawood) public housing estate in New South Wales prior to its demolition. In conceptualising the debates, the analysis draws on the framework devised by Watt and Jacobs (2000, Housing, theory and society, 17(1), 14–26), which identified three different discourses of social exclusion in British housing and urban policy. It is concluded that the dominant debate at East Fairfield estate drew extensively on a moral underclass discourse that implicated public housing tenure as a major cause of inequality. Whilst there is little doubt that serious problems existed on the estate, questions are raised about the utility of this moral underclass depiction and the rationale it provided for adopting demolition as the definitive solution. The experience of East Fairfield demonstrates that demolition is not a low-cost solution in financial or social terms.     

Energy efficiency and low-carbon technologies in urban renewal

Buildings belong to the most cost-effective sectors where carbon dioxide (CO₂) reductions can be achieved, and urban regeneration offers a good intervention point for switching to sustainable fuel sources, as changes in energy infrastructure can be coupled with other construction, thus decreasing the cost. However, the potential energy savings that are feasible do not match the more ambitious policy targets. Based on case studies in the Netherlands, obstacles are identified in the context of urban renewal that need to be overcome if energy efficiency measures are to be implemented and space heating replaced with low-carbon technologies. The current free-market public policy instruments have not managed to address the obstacles identified in the case studies due to poor market signals, costs and payback periods, risks, and a lack of leadership on environmental targets and policies on sustainable urban renewal. The potential for stronger government intervention is examined for the effectiveness in reducing both energy consumption and CO₂ generation. Legislation could produce a certain policy outcome in terms of CO₂ reduction in urban renewal in the Netherlands if compliance and legitimacy are ensured, but policy consideration is also required to account for the dilemma of low-income households and the rebound effects associated with occupant behaviours.

Les bâtiments appartiennent à l'un des secteurs les plus rentables où il est possible de réaliser des réductions de CO₂ et où la rénovation urbaine permet de passer à des sources de combustibles durables, les modifications apportées aux infrastructures énergétiques pouvant être couplées avec d'autres constructions, ce qui en diminue le coût. Toutefois, les économies qu'il est possible de réaliser au niveau de l'énergie ne correspondent pas aux objectifs politiques plus ambitieux. Des études de cas menées aux Pays-Bas ont permis d'identifier, dans le contexte du renouveau urbain, des obstacles qu'il faut surmonter si l'on veut mettre en ?uvre des mesures d'efficacité énergétique et si l'on veut remplacer le mode actuel de chauffage des locaux par des technologies à faible dégagement de CO₂. Jusqu'à présent, les instruments de la politique publique libérale n'ont pas permis de renverser ces obstacles pour les raisons suivantes: faibles signaux du marché, coûts et périodes de récupération, risques et manque de leadership en matière d'objectifs environnementaux et de politique concernant la rénovation urbaine durable. Cet article examine les possibilités d'un interventionnisme plus fort de la part des autorités pour améliorer la réduction à la fois de la consommation d'énergie et de la production de CO₂. La législation pourrait produire quelques résultats en termes de réduction du CO₂ dans la rénovation urbaine aux Pays-Bas si l'on garantit la compatibilité et la légitimité; mais il faut également prendre en considération les questions de politique et tenir compte de l'impasse que constituent les foyers à faibles revenus et les effets de rebond associés au comportement des occupants.

Mots clés: patrimoine immobilier, réduction de CO₂, efficacité énergétique, logements, politique publique, rénovation, rénovation urbaine, Pays-Bas     

浅谈我国旧城更新中的公众参与问题

通过对公众参与在城市规划中的兴起以及发展状况研究,结合我国旧城更新现状和存在的问题,借鉴国外公众参与旧城更新的成功经验,阐述了当今公众参与在我国旧城更新中的必要性,并进一步提出了加强旧城更新中公众参与的建议。     

Community renewal and large public housing estates

The extent of social disadvantage in local neighbourhoods has come to the fore in recent years, partly as a result of the problems that State Housing Authorities have faced in managing the concentrations of socially marginalised populations on larger public housing estates. However, a wider understanding of the processes at play in these neighbourhoods is needed to inform policy development. We consider the evolution of local renewal policy in New South Wales at the present time and suggest potential policy options for the future.     

Community renewal and large public housing estates

Abstract

The extent of social disadvantage in local neighbourhoods has come to the fore in recent years, partly as a result of the problems that State Housing Authorities have faced in managing the concentrations of socially marginalised populations on larger public housing estates. However, a wider understanding of the processes at play in these neighbourhoods is needed to inform policy development. We consider the evolution of local renewal policy in New South Wales at the present time and suggest potential policy options for the future.     

城市更新中的住宅规划设计引导

探讨了在城市更新中如何处理居住建筑与城市环境的关系,介绍了建成区内住宅规划设计的特点和思路,指出应从城市景观环境、城市空间设计方面去引导住宅规划设计,以实现更新的多元目标。     

Renewing urban renewal in France,the UK and the Netherlands: Introduction

Three central questions are addressed in this ‘policy and practice’ special issue of the Journal of Housing and the Built Environment; the extent and the nature of changing approaches to urban renewal in France, the UK and the Netherlands; the effects this has on the articulation between public, private and civil actors; and the capacity of different actors to deal with their new roles and positions. This introduction compares the contributions to the special issue. A framework for this comparison is developed and then applied to the three countries under scrutiny. It appears that the objectives of urban renewal have not fundamentally changed. However, a common tendency towards greater involvement of local actors leads to more network-oriented types of co-ordination and thus influences the roles of both public and private actors. Notwithstanding this evolution, the central and crucial role of public actors in urban renewal persists.     

Factors affecting environmental sustainability of urban renewal projects

Urban renewal programmes offer an opportunity to improve the environmental sustainability of urban areas by creating well-designed and well-constructed built environments. In this study, the contributions of built environment design elements to environmental sustainability were evaluated through a questionnaire survey with the participation of 323 people who previously worked in urban renewal projects. Implementing factor analysis, interrelated elements have been gathered under five factors: ‘transportation and accessibility’, ‘conservation of natural resources’, ‘built environment quality’, ‘supporting social life’ and ‘high-density usage’. To identify the importance weights of these factors, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) analysis was carried out with 40 academics and practitioners. Based on the results, ‘conservation of natural resources’ was found as the most important factor affecting the environmental sustainability of urban renewal projects. It is expected that the results of this study shall guide a wide range of urban renewal stakeholders, extending from designers to citizens, along the path of creating environmentally sustainable cities.     

Deadlocks and breakthroughs in urban renewal: a network analysis in Amsterdam

Urban renewal in the Netherlands has become a matter of ‘networking’. Housing associations, Dutch social landlords, became financially independent in the 1990s and have a responsibility in urban renewal. It is a joint responsibility in which local authority, social landlord and tenants are dependent on each other. This situation is rather new and needs some getting used to, as the two case studies show. The paper concludes that taking account of the complexity of networks could improve the chances of gaining support for problem definitions and solutions. This would result in agreement about goals and win–win package deals for actors, and ultimately in ‘more’ progress in urban renewal.

新加坡店屋改造设计及对闽南旧城更新的启示

本文基于解读新加坡店屋的历史渊源,分析近年来新加坡店屋改造典型优秀作品,归纳总结其设计方法,同时将其与闽南地区同类店屋街区改造进行对比。吸取其先进的设计理念,结合闽南地区实际,提出旧城更新及新镇建设的设计构想。     

Adaptive reuse of traditional Chinese shophouses in government-led urban renewal projects in Hong Kong

Conservationists and government authorities acknowledge that adaptive reuse of historic buildings contributes to urban sustainability. Traditional Chinese shophouses are a major historic building typology found in the old districts of Asian cities. In Hong Kong, the few remaining shophouses are generally deteriorating and are increasingly under threat of demolition for urban renewal. However, adaptive reuse of these buildings has created many social concerns. In light of these concerns, evaluating adaptive reuse potential needs to incorporate a much broader sustainability framework than simply physical building conditions. This study examines the extent to which obsolescence, heritage value and redevelopment pressures have affected the adaptive reuse of shophouse intervention in government-led urban renewal projects. Interestingly, the results based on adaptive reuse potential find no consistent relationships among the adaptive reuse actions of eight cases in urban renewal districts of Hong Kong. Instead, the question of revitalizing shophouses is determined by whether they are within an urban renewal redevelopment plan. This study further explores the broader urban sustainability framework reflected in eight case studies of shophouse revitalization in three renewal districts. It includes a qualitative synthesis of the social, environmental, economic, and political considerations contributing to the adaptive reuse of shophouses in urban renewal.     

城市拆迁改造中道路技术运用的再探讨

对城市拆迁改造中补偿安置与施工过程出现的主要问题进行了分析分类,探讨了基于道路技术的解决方法,指出合理运用相关技术可减少拆迁改造的社会成本,解决城市拆迁改造过程中出现的问题。     

结合夹江旧城西片区改造谈城市活力的激发

以夹江旧城西片区改造为例,通过对旧城区整体结构把握、空间形态分析、景观视觉分析与景观完善等多方面的探讨,阐述了在改造中激发城区活力的具体过程,以保证城市健康良性的发展。     

Infrastructures of displacement: the transpacific travel of urban renewal during the Cold War

ABSTRACT

By examining South Korea’s urban renewal regime in the 1960s, this paper sheds light on hitherto underexplored transpacific connections in the history of urban renewal. The period in question is crucial in that both Washington and Seoul came to regard urban space as a means to maintain an anti-communist regional order, which prefigured major urban transformations in South Korea for the decades that followed. With a focus on the circulation of technologies of governing urban space through particular forms of urban renewal, this paper shows that urban renewal in the mid-twentieth century illuminates the function of three interrelated phenomena during the period: (1) the formation of the transpacific network of power and knowledge; (2) the establishment of legal, financial, and symbolic grounds on which the ideal of homeownership could operate; and (3) the transport of what I call infrastructures of displacement. In doing so, this paper suggests a way of looking at urban renewal in the mid-century as the geopolitical project of disseminating ideas, norms, and technologies of governing cities during the Cold War.